Mining as Daumann sucks.

[AeternusDoleo]

What the original poster fails to take into account is fill time. The rich diamond fields offer the fastest fill-the-hegemon around. True, you need repairs every now and then - so fill up and dock at the nearest station. I believe there's Solarius in system, and there's a border station at the other side of the jumpgate. Inconvenient at best, but not critical.
Hardening the mining guns against radiation damage might be something to take into account. Makes sense those things are sturdy, being utility equipment. I'll see what the devs think on it, but that would be something that can't be done till 4.86 since it means altering a weapon stat.

Rogue: The yields of the 5 small fields changed. Test them. The Hessian Hole sweetspot has been nerfed, the other fields (especially the first and fifth) got a bump in yield. I suspect you were mining the middle small circle still and assumed it to be mined out - it's low yield by design now.

As for not trading it at all - make some underhanded deals with a third party. Heck, DHC has made deals with the Hessians, they can sure as hell make a deal with a party like the IND or such to smuggle the stuff across by the bargeload. The Bret salepoint is weaker then the Liberty one, ~6K at BPA Newgate if I'm not misstaken.
And Daumann can still do Cobalt just fine, having claimed the field west of Leipzig for their own private use (along with the southern Omega for copper - but that's a shaky claim still;))

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Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.

Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.